I was introduced t0 T.F. Torrance’s theology when I was a Junior in college at Moody Bible Institute. I was drawn to his theology almost immediately. He spoke about Jesus in a way that made him real to me in a way that I had never experienced Jesus. I began to dive into his work head first and quickly found myself immersed into theological depth that I had never been before. It was during this time that I was introduced to the idea that Christ had assumed a fallen human nature. At first I was quickly taken aback by the notion that anything “fallen” was to be associated with Jesus. But thankfully I did not stop reading Torrance and kept trying to figure out what he was talking about.

I ended up writing my senior thesis at MBI on this topic and my Masters thesis on this topic when I was at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. My masters thesis is being published by Wipf & Stock publishers sometime in the coming year, and will be called Flesh and Blood: Clarifying Questions Concerning Christ’s Human Nature. As I finish my manuscript I decided to make a few posts on the topic to help dispel some of the myths that people believe about the “fallenness” view.

Before I begin dispelling some of the myths in coming posts let me begin by placing this doctrine in it’s proper dogmatic rank. First rank doctrines would be doctrines that must be believed if one is a Christian. For instance, Jesus Christ being God, the Trinity, etc. Second rank doctrines would be doctrine that, while there is disagreement, those who hold varying views are still Christian but they will have separate churches. For instance, views on baptism, church government, etc. Third rank doctrines are doctrines that there may be disagreement about but all who hold them are still Christians and still worship together at the same church. For instance, tribulational views, views on creation, etc. I believe whole heartedly that the doctrine of Christ having a “fallen” or “unfallen” nature fits in the third category. This is not a topic that we should split over but, rather, we should allow our conversations regarding this topic to sharpen us as we seek to “grow up in every way into him who is the head” (Eph 4:15). So please know that my hope in these posts is to push you to Jesus Christ and maturity in Him. Let us converse in love and grace.